Method and apparatus for assembling shirt parts

ABSTRACT

Method of assembling shirt parts including the steps of aligning two yoke pieces with the upper edge of a shirt back, stitching the yoke to the shirt back, simultaneously stitching the shirt fronts to the shirt back to form side seams, drawing a free end of one shirt front away from the assembled parts and hemming the bottom edges of the shirt fronts and back. The apparatus includes two conveyors mounted at right angles to each other. The first conveyor has an inclined surface at one end thereof which extends across the width of the second conveyor. A smooth turning rod extends across the width of the second conveyor and generally in the direction of the first conveyor.

United States Patent Wagar [54] METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ASSEMBLING SHIRT PARTS [72] Inventor: Albert E. Wagar, Albany, NY.

[73] Assignee: Cluett, Peabody 8: Co., Inc., Troy, NY.

[22] Filed: Oct. 28, 1970 [21] App]. No.: 84,590

[52] U.S.Cl...., ..1l2/l2l.15, 112/121.14, 112/262, 2/115 [51] lnt.Cl. ..D05b 21/00 [58] FieldofSearch ..1l2/2,12l.11,121.l2,121.14, l12/121.15, 121.29, 262,141,147,130,10;2/115, 113, 243

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 678,788 7/1901 Millhiser et a1. ..l12/10X 1,971,489 8/1934 Katz et 2,268,118 12/1941 Habress Jones et al. ..112/121.11

[451 May 23,1972

3,099,234 7/1963 Arbter et a1. ..1 12/10 3 ,099,970 8/1963 Hite 3,339,506 9/1967 McGregor 3,345,645 10/1967 Di Addario ..2/115 Primary Examiner-James R. Boler Attomey-Leo Fornero, Robert J. Dockery and Robert J. Seligman [57] ABSTRACT Method of assembling shirt parts including the steps of aligning two yoke pieces with the upper edge of a shirt back, stitching the yoke to the shirt back, simultaneously stitching the shirt fronts to the shirt back to form side seams, drawing a free end of one shirt front away from the assembled parts and hemming the bottom edges of the shirt fronts and back. The apparatus includes two conveyors mounted at right angles to each other. The first conveyor has an inclined surface at one end thereof which extends across the width of the second conveyor. A smooth turning rod extends across the width of the second conveyor and generally in the direction of the first conveyor.

5 Claim, 2 Drawing Figures PATENTED Y 2 3 I972 sum 1 0F 2 J B k 241- k H [I JLJJ FIG.

) whwm INVENT OR ALBERT E. WAGAR ATTORNEY PATENIEB MAY 2 3 i912 SHEET 2 [1F 2 INVENT U ALBERT E. WAGAR ATTOR KEY METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ASSEMBLING SHIRT PARTS BACKGROND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an improved method of assembling shirt parts preparatory to further manufacturing operations.

In typical prior art methods, e.g. piece work operations, the operator manually positions and feeds shirt parts into a sewing machine. The parts are sewn in the sewing machine and are then placed by the operator in a pile. After she has a fair size pile, she bundles the parts together and places her ticket on the bundle to show she has completed this work. The parts are then typically placed in a wheeled bin for transfer to another part of the sewing floor where other sewing operations take place. These bundled parts present both transfer and inventory problems. An arrangement allowing for a continuous flow of separated parts to different operating stations where automatic stitching operations can be performed will eliminate some of the operator handling and skill required to produce a shirt. An additional aspect is that manual positioning and feeding of the individual shirt parts may result in some irregularities in the whole shirt shape. The known methods furthermore do not'take full advantage of profile stitching machines which sew a clamped piece according to a cam or pantograph tracing.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has certain beneficial features, one of which is the reduction in the number of manual operations in assembling a shirt. Another feature is the reduction of parts inventory and in process time. Still another feature is the uniformity in size of the shirts produced.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved method of assembling a shirt.

It is a further object of the present invention to to provide a method which eliminates some of the operator handling and skill.

Still another object is to provide a method which eliminates bundling and ticketing of shirt parts at intermediate steps during separate sewing operations, thereby reducing inventory and in process time.

In accordance with one aspect of this invention, the yokes are first positioned above and beneath the shirt back and in edge alignment with respect to the shirtback which is on conveyor belts. The yokes are then profile stitched to the shirt back. The two fronts are placed on this sub-assembly which is moved to another sewing station where the fronts are simultaneously stitched to the shirt back. The sewn back, yokes and fronts are then moved to a turning rod which assists in separating an edge of one of the fronts from the shirt back so that the assembly can be hemmed along its bottom edge.

THE DRAWINGS With the foregoing objects and features in mind, the invention will be more fully understood by reference to the drawings, the accompanying detailed description and the appended claims.

FIG. I is a diagrammatic plan view of one type of apparatus suitable for the practice of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of part of the apparatus of FIG. 1.

The drawings are to be understood to be more or less of a diagrammatic character for the purposes of illustration. Like characters identify the same elements in the several views.

THE INVENTION FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate one embodiment of an apparatus constructed according to the instant invention. Referring to these figures, a plurality of driven conveyor belts l carry the shirt parts along the top of horizontal table 12 to the various sewing stations. Typically, a plurality of upper belts could be alignment. A first profile stitching machine 20 is movably mounted adjacent to the head of table 12 and is used to stitch the yokes to shirt back 14 along the upper edge of the shirt back. After the yokes are joined to the back, the operator places a pair of shirt fronts 22 and 24 inside out against the outside of the shirt back, with the unfinished edges of the shirt fronts and the side edges of the shirt back in alignment. A floor mounted switch 50, operatively associated with the belt drive is actuated by the operator, causing the positioned parts to be conveyed on belts 10 to a second sewing station indicated generally as 26. A photo-electric timing device 52, operatively associated with the belt drive, is mounted flush with table 1.2 between the belts 10. Timer 52 is activated by the leading edge of the parts, causing the belts to stop when the parts have reached sewing station 26. At station 26, a pair of two-needle safety stitch machines, 29 and 30, are located adjacent to table 12 and are movably mounted on cam followers for movement in the directions indicated by the arrows so as to trace out a line of stitching along the edges of the shirt sides. Cut-outs 23 and 25 are provided in table 12 to permit machines 29 and 30 to form the respective side seams. Machines 29 and 30 move in opposite directions to each other, thereby eliminating the need for a reverse feeding or left hand sewing machine. The timing feature of device 52 is coordinated with the cyclical travel of machine 29 so as to restart the belt drive when machine 29 returns to its starting position after the side seams have been formed.

The assembled parts are conveyed by belts 10 to a smooth, inclined surface 34 of the work table located at the end of belts 10. At the down-side of surface 34, a second work table 35 is located at right angles to table 12. Table 35 includes a registry block 39 mounted along one edge thereof, and extending generally across the width of surface 34. Block 39 restricts further movement of the assembled parts as they slide down. A turning rod 40 is rigidly mounted on the side of table 35 and extends across the width of the table and in the direction of run of belts 10. The rod may typically be of circular cross section and is used to separate the edge of one of the fronts from the back. A plurality of driven conveyor belts 37 are spaced in parallelism across the width of table 35. Located downstream along the run of belts 37 is a third sewing station indicated generally as 42 which includes a folder 43 and hemmer 44 of a type known in the industry. A cut-out 36 is provided in table 35 and permits hemmer 44 to function in the manner already described. In practice, the operator draws the free, unfinished edge of the shirt front 22 under, around and over turning rod 40 and feeds it into the folder 43 which folds and feeds to the hemmer 44 the unfinished, contiguous edges of the shirt fronts and back. The hemmed parts are then conveyed on belts 37 for subsequent manufacturing operations.

In a typical operating sequence, a pair of correspondingly shaped yoke pieces are placed in inverted position against a shirt back with the edges of the yoke pieces and the edge of the shirt back alignment. The arranged parts are located on the work table and are joined together along the upper edge of the shirt back by a sewing machine which may typically be incorporated into a profile stitching arrangement known to the industry and which stitches the parts along the predetermined path. A pair of shirt fronts are then placed inside out against the outside of the shirt back with the unfinished edges of the front and the side edges of the back in alignment. The positioned parts are moved by the belts to a second sewing station where both fronts are simultaneously sewn to the back to form the side seams. After forming the side seams, the assembled parts are moved by the belts to a turning rod which is used to separate the edge of one front from the back. The front edge is then fed into a hemming machine which hems the contiguous free edges of the fronts and back.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to specific apparatus, it will be appreciated by a person skilled in the art that a wide variety of changes may be made without departing from the scope of this invention. Additionally, certain features may be used independently of others and equivalents may be substituted for the method steps, all within the spirit and scope of the invention.

1 claim:

1. Apparatus for assembling bination: first and second conveyors each conveyor compris ing a plurality of endless, high friction belts arrayed generally in parallelism each with the other and along a portion of their run being coplanar, and the belts of the second conveyor running approximately at right angles with the belts of said first conveyor, first and second sewing stations spaced along one of said first and second sewgenerally across the total width of said second conveyor, and a turning member comprising a smooth rod located adjacent to extending substantially across the width of said second conveyor and generally in the direction of run of said first conveyor.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 including stop means positioned at the bottom of the inclined surface to restrict movement of the assembled parts.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 including sensing means for stopping and starting the first conveyor whereby to provide position response to the assembled parts.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 including folding means as sociated with said third sewing station.

5. A method of assembling shirt parts including the steps of:

a. placing two correspondingly shaped yoke pieces in inverted position against opposite sides of a shirt back with the upper edges of the yoke pieces and the edge of the shirt back in alignment;

b. stitching the yoke pieces and the shirt back along the upper edge of the shirt back;

0. placing a pair of shirt fronts inside out against the outside of the shirt back with the unfinished edges of the shirt fronts and the side edges of the shirt d. stitching the shirt fronts to the shirt back simultaneously along both side edges of the shirt back to form the side seams;

e. drawing a free end of one shirt front away from the as sembled parts and f. hemming the assembled parts along the unfinished bottom edges of the shirt fronts and back.

together 

1. Apparatus for assembling shirt parts comprising in combination: first and second conveyors each conveyor comprising a plurality of endless, high friction belts arrayed generally in parallelism each with the other and along a portion of their run being coplanar, and the belts of the second conveyor running approximately at right angles with the belts of said first conveyor, first and second sewing stations spaced along the run of said first conveyor, one of said first and second sewing stations including dual sewing heads, a third sewing station located along the run of said second conveyor, an inclined surface extending between the end of said first conveyor and generally across the total width of said second conveyor, and a turning member comprising a smooth rod located adjacent to said first conveyor and extending substantially across the width of said second conveyor and generally in the direction of run of said first conveyor.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1 including stop means positioned at the bottom of the inclined surface to restrict movement of the assembled parts.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2 including sensing means for stopping and starting the first conveyor whereby to provide position response to the assembled parts.
 4. The apparatus of claim 3 including folding means associated with said third sewing station.
 5. A method of assembling shirt parts including the steps of: a. placing two correspondingly shaped yoke pieces in inverted position against opposite sides of a shirt back with the upper edges of the yoke pieces and the edge of the shirt back in alignment; b. stitching the yoke pieces and the shirt back together along the upper edge of the shirt back; c. placing a pair of shirt fronts inside out against the outside of the shirt back with the unfinished edges of the shirt fronts and the side edges of the shirt back in alignment; d. stitching the shirt fronts to the shirt back simultaneously along both side edges of the shirt baCk to form the side seams; e. drawing a free end of one shirt front away from the assembled parts and f. hemming the assembled parts along the unfinished bottom edges of the shirt fronts and back. 